Method for actuating a tactile interface layer

ABSTRACT

A method for actuating a tactile interface layer of a device that defines a surface with a deformable region, comprising the steps of deforming a deformable region of the surface into a formation tactilely distinguishable from the surface, detecting a force from the user on a deformed deformable region, interpreting the force as a command for the deformable region, and manipulating the deformable region of the surface based on the command.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/325,772, filed on 19 Apr. 2010, which is incorporated in its entiretyby this reference.

This application is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 11/969,848filed on 4 Jan. 2008 and entitled “System and Method for Raised TouchScreens”, U.S. application Ser. No. 12/319,334 filed on 5 Jan. 2009 andentitled “User Interface System”, U.S. application Ser. No. 12/497,622filed on 3 Jul. 2009 and “User Interface System and Method”, which areall incorporated in their entirety by this reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to tactile user interfaces, and morespecifically to a new and useful method for interpreting gestures ascommands for a tactile interface layer with a deformable region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of the method of the firstpreferred embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the method of the secondpreferred embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a top view of a variation of the tactile interface layer.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of a variation of the tactile interfacelayer.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of adeformable region of a tactile interface layer.

FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of a variation of the tactile interfacelayer with a valve.

FIGS. 7-9 are schematic representations of a first, second, and thirdvariation in the manipulation of the firmness of the deformed particularregion in the first preferred embodiment.

FIGS. 10 and 11 are schematic representations of a first and secondvariation in the manipulation of a first and second particular region inthe second preferred embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description of the preferred embodiments of the inventionis not intended to limit the invention to these preferred embodiments,but rather to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use thisinvention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the method S100 for actuating a tactileinterface layer 100 of a device that defines a surface with a deformableregion of the preferred embodiments includes deforming a deformableregion of the surface into a formation tactilely distinguishable fromthe surface Step S110 and S210, detecting a force from the user on thedeformed region of the surface Steps S120 and S220, interpreting acommand for the deformable region of the surface based on the detectedforce, and manipulating the deformable regions based on the command. Inthe first preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the step ofinterpreting a command includes interpreting the force on the deformableregion as a command for the firmness of the deformed deformable regionStep S130 and the step of manipulating the deformable regions based onthe command includes manipulating the firmness of the deformable regionof the surface based on the command Step S140. In the second preferredembodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the tactile interface layer includes afirst and second deformable region and the step of interpreting acommand includes interpreting the force on the deformed deformableregion as a command to undeform the first deformable region and todeform the second deformable region into formation tactilelydistinguishable from the surface Step S230 and the step of manipulatingthe deformable regions based on the command includes manipulating thefirst and second deformable regions based on the command Step S240. Themethod S100 for actuating a tactile interface layer 100 of a device mayalso include detecting a force from the user on a plurality of deformeddeformable regions, which may also include the step of detecting thesequence in which a force is detected on each of the deformed deformableregions. In this variation, the step of interpreting a command mayinclude interpreting a command for at least one deformable region of thesurface based on the detected sequence of forces. However, any othersuitable type of force detection relative to the deformed deformableregions of the surface may be used.

The method S100 of the first and second preferred embodiments foractuating a tactile interface layer 100 may also include the step ofreceiving a user input for a particular interpretation of a force as acommand Step S150. The step of receiving a user input for a particularinterpretation of a force as a command Step S150 may include receiving auser input from the user of the device, but may alternatively includereceiving a user input from a person remote from the device, forexample, a third party such as the manufacturer or a second user.However, the user input for a particular interpretation of a force as acommand may be received from any other suitable user. The method S100 ispreferably applied to a tactile interface layer 100 that is to be usedwith an electronic device. More preferably, in an electronic device thatbenefits from an adaptive user interface. The electronic device may ormay not include a display and/or a touch sensor, for example, anautomotive console, a steering wheel, a desktop computer, a laptopcomputer, a tablet computer, a television, a radio, a desk phone, amobile phone, a PDA, a personal navigation device, a personal mediaplayer, a camera, a watch, a remote control, a mouse, a trackpad, or akeyboard. The tactile interface layer 100 may, however, be used as theuser interface for any suitable device that interfaces with a user in atactile and/or visual manner. The tactile interface layer 100 ispreferably integrated with the device, for example, in the variationwherein the tactile interface layer 100 includes a sensor 140, thetactile interface layer 100 is preferably assembled into the device andpresented to the user as one unit. Alternatively, the tactile interfacelayer 100 may function as an accessory to a device, the user may bepresented the tactile interface layer 100 and the device as two separateunits wherein, when coupled to each other, the tactile interface layer100 functions to provide tactile guidance to the user and/or to receiveuser inputs. However, the method S100 may be applied to any othersuitable arrangement of the tactile interface layer 100.

The method S100 of the preferred embodiments is preferably applied toany suitable tactile interface layer that includes deformable regions.In particular, as shown in FIGS. 3-5, the method S100 of the preferredembodiments may be applied to the user interface system as described inU.S. application Ser. Nos. 11/969,848, 12/319,334, and 12/497,622. Thetactile interface layer 100 of this variation preferably includes alayer 110 that defines a surface 115, a substrate 120 that supports thelayer 110 and at least partially defines a fluid vessel 127 thatincludes a volume of fluid 112, and a displacement device 130 coupled tothe fluid vessel 127 that manipulates the volume of fluid 112 to expandand/or contract at least a portion of the fluid vessel 127, therebydeforming a particular region 113 of the surface 115. The substrate 115may also function to substantially prevent the layer 110 from inwardlydeforming, for example, into the fluid vessel 127. In this variation ofthe tactile interface layer 100, the steps of manipulating thedeformable region of the surface based on the command Steps S140 andS240 preferably include manipulating the fluid within the fluid vessel127. In particular, the displacement device 130 is preferably actuatedto manipulate the fluid within the fluid vessel 127 to deform aparticular region 113 of the surface. The fluid vessel 127 preferablyincludes a cavity 125 and the displacement device 130 preferablyinfluences the volume of fluid 112 within the cavity 125 to expand andretract the cavity 125. However, any other suitable method ofmanipulating the fluid 112 may be used.

The fluid vessel 127 may alternatively be a channel 138 or a combinationof a channel 138 and a cavity 125, as shown in FIG. 4. The fluid vessel127 may also include a second cavity 125 b in addition to a first cavity125 a. When the second cavity 125 b is expanded, a second particularregion 113 on the surface 115 is preferably deformed. The displacementdevice 130 preferably influences the volume of fluid 112 within thesecond cavity 125 b independently of the first cavity 125 a. As shown inFIG. 6, the tactile interface layer of this variation may include avalve 139 that functions to direct fluid within the tactile interfacelayer 100. In this variation, the step of manipulating the fluid withinthe fluid vessel 127 may include actuating the valve 139 to direct fluidwithin the tactile interface layer 100. Alternatively, the userinterface enhancement system 100 may include a second displacementdevice 130 that functions to influence the volume of fluid 112 withinthe second cavity 125 b to expand and retract the second cavity 125 b,thereby deforming a second particular region 113 b of the surface. Thesecond cavity 125 b is preferably similar or identical to the cavity125, but may alternatively be any other suitable kind of cavity. Thefollowing examples may be described as expanding a fluid vessel 127 thatincludes a cavity 125 and a channel 138, but the fluid vessel 127 may beany other suitable combination of combination of cavity 125 and/orchannel 138. However, any other suitable type of tactile interface layer100 may be used.

The tactile interface layer 100 preferably functions to provide tactileguidance to the user when using a device that tactile interface layer100 to. As shown in FIG. 5, the surface 115 of the tactile interfacelayer 100 preferably remains flat until tactile guidance is to beprovided to the user at the location of the particular region 113. Inthe variation of the tactile interface layer 100 as described above, thedisplacement device 130 then preferably expands the cavity 125 (or anyother suitable portion of the fluid vessel 127) to expand the particularregion 113 outward, forming a deformation that may be felt by a user(referenced throughout this document as a “tactilely distinguishableformation”), and providing tactile guidance for the user. The expandedparticular region 113 preferably also provides tactile feedback to theuser when he or she applies force onto the particular region 113 toprovide input. This tactile feedback may be the result of Newton's thirdlaw, whenever a first body (the user's finger) exerts a force on asecond body (the surface 115), the second body exerts an equal andopposite force on the first body, or, in other words, a passive tactileresponse. Alternatively, the displacement device 130 may retract thecavity 125 to deform the particular region 113 inward. However, anyother suitable method of deforming a particular region 113 of thetactile interface layer 100 may be used.

The tactile interface layer 100 preferably includes a sensor thatfunctions to detect the force applied to the deformed particular region113 by the user. The force may be a force that substantially inwardlydeforms the deformed particular region 113 of the surface, but mayalternatively be a force that does not substantially inwardly deform thedeformed particular region 113. However, any other suitable type offorce may be detected. For example, in the variation of the tactilelayer as described above, the sensor may be a pressure sensor thatfunctions to detect the increased pressure within the fluid 112 thatresults from an inward deformation of the deformed particular region113. Alternatively, the sensor may be a capacitive sensor that detectsthe presence of a finger on the deformed particular region 113. In thisvariation, the presence of a force is deduced from the detected presenceof the finger of the user. Alternatively, the sensor may be a sensorincluded in the device to which the tactile interface layer 100 isapplied to, for example, the device may include a touch sensitivedisplay onto which the tactile interface layer 100 is overlaid. Theforce of the user may be detected using the sensing capabilities of thetouch sensitive display. However, any other suitable force detection maybe used.

Similarly, the tactile interface layer 100 preferably includes aprocessor that functions to interpret the detected gesture as a command.The processor may include a storage device that functions to store aplurality of force types (for example, the magnitude of the force or theduration of the applied force) and command associations and/or userpreferences for interpretations of the force as commands. The processormay be any suitable type of processor and the storage device may be anysuitable type of storage device, for example, a flash memory device, ahard drive, or any other suitable type. The processor and/or storagedevice may alternatively be a processor and/or storage device includedinto the device that the tactile interface layer 100 is applied to.However, any other suitable arrangement of the processor and/or storagedevice may be used.

As shown in FIGS. 7-9, in the first preferred embodiment of the methodS100, the force on the deformed particular region is interpreted as acommand for the firmness of the deformed particular region Step S130 andthe firmness of the deformed particular region is manipulated based onthe command Step S140. The manipulation of the firmness of the deformedparticular region may alternatively be thought of as manipulating thedegree of deformation of the deformed particular region. For example, afully deformed particular region 113 is of the highest firmness degreewhile a medium deformed particular region 113 is of a medium firmnessdegree. In the variation of the tactile interface layer as describedabove, manipulating the deformed particular region based on the commandto change the firmness of the deformed particular region preferablyincludes manipulating the volume of fluid 112 within the fluid vessel127. As the pressure within the volume of fluid 112 is increased, thefirmness of the resulting deformed particular region 113 will alsoincrease. Similarly, as the pressure within the volume of fluid 112 isdecreased, the firmness of the resulting deformed particular region 113will also decrease. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, as the pressure of thevolume of fluid 112 is changed, size of the deformed particular region113 may change due to the elasticity of the layer 110. In thisvariation, a change in firmness of the deformed particular region 113may also be thought of as a change in the size and/or height of thedeformed particular region 113. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, thepressure of the volume of fluid 112 corresponding to the deformableregion is increased and the resulting deformed particular region 113 isboth stiffer and taller than the original deformed particular region113. In a second example as shown in FIG. 8, the pressure of the volumeof fluid 112 is decreased and the resulting deformed particular region113 is both less stiff and less tall than the original deformedparticular region 113. In a third example, the pressure of the volume offluid 112 corresponding to the deformable region is increased toincrease the surface area of the deformed particular region 113. In thisvariation, the height of the deformed particular region 113 may change,but it may alternatively remain the same. However, any other suitablecombination of firmness and size of the deformed particular regionresulting from the manipulation of the firmness of the deformedparticular region 113 in Step S140 may be used.

In a variation of the first preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9,the step of manipulating the deformable region may include undeformingthe deformed particular region 113 such that the particular region ofthe surface 113 is no longer deformed. In other words, the firmnessand/or the height of the deformed particular region is “removed” ordecreased to zero. This may be a useful tactile experience where theuser is to select items from a list, for example, a check box or a“YES/NO” selection box to tactilely indicate to the user when a certainselection has already been made. However, any other suitable applicationof this variation of the first preferred embodiment may be used.

As shown in FIGS. 10-11, in the second preferred embodiment of themethod S100, the tactile interface layer preferably includes a first anda second particular region 113 a and 113 b, and the force on the firstdeformed particular region 113 a is interpreted as a command to undeformthe first particular region 113 a and to deform the second particularregion 113 b Step S230, and the first and second particular regions 113a and 113 b are manipulated based on the command Step S240. The firstand second particular regions 113 a and 113 b may be substantiallyproximal to each other, for example, along the same face of the device.Alternatively, the first and second particular regions 113 a and 113 bmay be substantially distal fro each other, for example, the firstparticular region 113 a may be on a first face of the device and thesecond particular region 113 b may be on a second face of the device. Inthis variation, the first face of the device may include a display andthe second face of the device may not include a display. However, anyother suitable arrangement of the first and second particular regions113 a and 113 b may be used. The force may alternatively be interpretedas a command to further deform the first particular region 113 a and toundeform the second particular region 113 b. However, any other suitablecombination of deformation and undeformation of the first and secondparticular regions 113 a and 113 b may be used. The interpreted commandmay be to fully undeform the first particular region 113 a and to fullydeform the second particular region 113 b, which may provide the userwith a “rocker switch” type of experience, as shown in FIG. 10. In thisvariation, both the first and second particular regions 113 a and 113 bmay be located on the same device, for example, to provide a tactileexperience where the user is to toggle between two selections for aparticular, for example, “Audio ON” and “Audio OFF” to toggle a locationwithin a game, for example, selecting tiles within the popularMinesweeper game. Alternatively, the second particular region 113 b maybe located on a second tactile interface layer 100 that is applied to asecond device, where the second device is linked to the first device,for example, through the Internet, through a WiFi connection, through aBluetooth connection, or any other suitable connection. Control of thesecond tactile interface layer 100 is may be independent of the controlof the first user interface 100; for example, the second particularregion 113 b may be deformed independently of the first particularregion 113 a. Alternatively, control of the second tactile interfacelayer may be linked to the control of the first tactile interface layer100. This may be a useful tactile experience where the first device andthe second device are transmitting tactile communication, for example,when a user using the first device creates a pattern by undeforming apattern of deformed particular regions 113 and another user using thesecond device “sees” the pattern that the first user is creatingdeformable particular regions 113 corresponding to the undeformedparticular regions 113 on the first device are deformed. This type offeature may be used in a gaming device or gaming application where afirst player uses tactile communication with a second player. However,any other suitable application of a “rocker switch” type active responsemay be used.

Alternatively, the interpreted command may be to undeform the firstparticular region 113 a to a particular degree and to deform the secondparticular region 113 b to a particular degree, as shown in FIG. 11. Thedegree to which to undeform and deform the first and second particularregions 113 a and 113 b may be determined based on the detectedattributes of the force. In a first example, the magnitude of the forcemay determine the particular degrees. In the variation where the tactileinterface layer includes fluid 112 and a pressure sensor, the pressureincrease within the fluid 112 may be used to determine the magnitude ofthe force. However, the magnitude of the force may be determined usingany other suitable method, for example, the applied force may displacethe volume of fluid 112 from one location within the fluid vessel 127 toanother. The magnitude of the force may be determined by measuring theamount of fluid displacement. In a second example, the duration of theapplied force may be used to determine the particular degrees. In thevariation where the tactile interface layer includes a sensor that is acapacitive sensor, the presence of the finger of the user may bedetected and the period of time for which the presence of the finger isdetected may be used to determine the particular degrees. In a thirdexample, the rate at which the force is applied may be used to determinethe particular degrees. As described above, the volume of fluid 112displaced by the applied force may be measured. In this variation, therate at which the force is applied may be determined by detecting therate at which the volume of fluid 112 is displaced. However, theparticular degrees to which to undeform and deform the first and secondparticular regions 113 a and 113 b may be interpreted from the detectedforce using any other suitable method.

Additionally, the particular degrees to undeform and deform the firstand second particular regions 113 a and 113 b may be percentages of thefull deformation of each of the particular regions 113 a and 113 b,where the sum of the percentage of deformation of the first and secondparticular regions 113 a and 113 b is 100%. In other words, the commandmay include undeforming the first particular region 113 a to 25% of fulldeformation and deforming the second particular region 113 b to 75% ofthe full deformation. This may provide a tactile experience to the userthat is similar to pushing a mass from one location to another location,where there is a conservation of mass. Alternatively, the percentagesmay have a sum of greater than or less than 100%. For example, thecommand may include deforming each of the first and second particularregions 113 a and 113 b to 60% of full deformation. However, any othersuitable command for the undeformation and deformation of the first andsecond particular regions 113 a and 113 b may be interpreted.

In the variation of the tactile interface layer 100 as described above,the fluid vessel 127 includes a first cavity 125 a that corresponds tothe first particular region 113 a and a second cavity 125 b thatcorresponds to the second particular region 113 b. The displacementdevice 130 is preferably actuated to expand the second cavity 125 b andretract the first cavity 125 a. Retraction of the first cavity 125 a (orthe undeformation of the first particular region 113 a) and theexpansion of the second cavity 125 b (or the deformation of the secondparticular region 113 b) preferably happen substantially concurrently,as shown in FIG. 10. In this variation, when the force and command areinterpreted on the deformed first particular region, as shown in FIG. 10a, the volume of fluid within the first cavity 125 a is decreased whilethe volume of fluid within the second cavity 125 b is increased, asshown in FIG. 10 b. A volume of fluid 112 may be transferred between thefirst and second cavities 125 a and 125 b by the displacement device130, but the displacement device 130 may alternatively displace anyother suitable volume of fluid 112 from and to the first and secondcavities 125 a and 125 b. For example, the displacement device 130 maydisplace a volume of fluid towards the first and second cavities 125 aand 125 b through the valve 139, and the valve 139 directs a firstportion of the fluid towards the first cavity 125 a and a second portionof the fluid towards the second cavity 125 b.

As described in the first preferred embodiment, a change in the volumeof fluid within the first and second cavities 125 a and 125 b may alsobe thought of as a change in the firmness of the corresponding deformedparticular region 113 a and 113 b, respectively. In a variation of thesecond preferred embodiment, the undeformation and deformation of thefirst and second particular regions 113 a and 113 b may alternatively bethought of as a decrease in firmness of the first particular region 113a and an increase in firmness of the second particular region 113 b. Anexemplary usage of this variation of the second preferred embodiment maybe in a user interface that includes two buttons for increasing anddecreasing a particular feature of the device, for example, the volumeof sound output. The deformed first particular region 113 a mayrepresent the “increase volume” button and the second particular region113 b may represent the “decrease volume” button. As a force is detectedon the first particular region 113 a, the firmness of the firstparticular region 113 a may be increased and the firmness of a secondparticular region 113 corresponding to a “decrease volume” buttondecreases, representing the shift towards the higher range along therange of available volume outputs. However, any other suitableapplication of this variation may be used.

In the method S100 of the first and second preferred embodiments, theinterpretation of the force detected on the deformed deformable regionas a command may be adjusted based on the state of the deformeddeformable region. For example, if a force is detected when the deformeddeformable region is not fully deformed, the command may be to increasethe firmness and if a force is detected when the deformed deformableregion is fully deformed, the interpreted command may be to decrease thefirmness. In a second example, the interpretation of a command when aforce is detected as a deformable region is being expanded may bedifferent from when a force is detected as a deformable region is beingundeformed. However, any other suitable interpretation of the force as acommand based on the state of the deformed deformable region may beused.

While the interpretation of a force detected on a deformed particularregion 113 as a command is preferably one of the variations describedabove, the interpretation may alternatively be a combination of thevariations described above or any other suitable combination of gesturesand commands, for example, a force may be detected on an undeformeddeformable region and then interpreted as a command for the deformableregion. However, any other suitable type of force detection and forceinterpretation may be used.

As a person skilled in the art will recognize from the previous detaileddescription and from the figures and claims, modifications and changescan be made to the preferred embodiments of the invention withoutdeparting from the scope of this invention defined in the followingclaims.

We claim:
 1. A method for actuating a tactile interface layer coupled toa device, comprising a surface defining a deformable region and a secondregion adjacent the deformable region, and defining a fluid vesseladjacent the deformable region, the method comprising: displacing avolume of fluid into the fluid vessel to transition the deformableregion of the surface from a retracted state into an expanded state thedeformable region defining a formation tactilely distinguishable fromthe surface second region in the expanded state; detecting a forceapplied to the surface at the deformable region in the expanded state;interpreting the force on the deformable region as a command for afirmness of the deformable region in the expanded setting; andmanipulating the volume of fluid to modify the firmness of thedeformable region in the expanded setting based on the command.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein displacing the volume of fluid into the fluidvessel comprises displacing the volume of fluid into the fluid vessel tooutwardly expand the deformable region outward from the surface to forma raised portion of the surface tactilely distinguishable from thesecond region of the surface.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereininterpreting the force on the deformable region as the command for thefirmness of the deformable region in the expanded setting comprisesinterpreting the force on the deformable region as a command for adegree of additional deformation of the deformable region in theexpanded setting.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein interpreting theforce on the deformable region as a command for the degree ofdeformation comprises interpreting the force on the deformable region asa command for a change in size of the deformable region in the expandedsetting.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the force on thedeformable region in the expanded setting comprises detecting the forceon the surface that that inwardly deforms the deformed deformableregion.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein interpreting the force on thedeformable region as the command comprises interpreting the force as thecommand to increase the firmness of the deformed deformable region inthe expanded setting.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprisinginterpreting the force on the deformable region as a command to adjust afirmness of a second deformable region defined by the surface of thetactile interface layer.
 8. The method of claim 7, further comprisingdeforming the second deformable region of the surface into a formationtactilely distinguishable from the second region.
 9. The method of claim7, wherein interpreting the force on the first deformable region as thecommand comprises interpreting the force as the command to increase thefirmness of the deformable region and a command to decrease the firmnessof the second deformable region.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereinmanipulating the volume of fluid to modify the firmness of thedeformable region comprises increasing a fluid pressure of within thefluid vessel to increase the firmness of the deformable region.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising interpreting the force on thedeformable region as a command for the device.
 12. The method of claim11, wherein the command for the device is selected from a range ofvalues, and wherein interpreting the force on the deformable region asthe command for the firmness of the deformable region comprisesdetermining the firmness of the deformable region value of the commandrelative to the range of values.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein therange of values for the device includes a range of volumes from low tohigh for the device, and wherein determining the firmness based on thevalue of the command relative to the range of values comprisesincreasing the firmness for a high volume and decreasing the firmnessfor a low volume.
 14. A method for actuating a tactile interface layercoupled to a device and comprises a surface defining a first deformableregion, a second deformable region, and third region adjacent the firstdeformable region and the second deformable region, the tactileinterface layer defining a first fluid vessel adjacent the firstdeformable region and a second fluid vessel adjacent the seconddeformable region, the method comprising: displacing a first volume offluid into the first fluid vessel to transition the first deformableregion of the surface from a retracted state into an expanded state, thefirst deformable region defining a first formation tactilelydistinguishable from the third region in the expanded state; displacinga second volume of fluid out of the second fluid vessel to transitionthe second deformable region of the surface from the expanded state intothe retracted state, the second deformable region defining a secondformation tactilely distinguishable from the third region in theexpanded state; detecting a force applied to the surface at the firstdeformable region of the surface in the expanded state; interpreting theforce on the first deformable region as a command to retract the firstdeformable region and to expand the second deformable region; decreasingthe first volume of fluid in the first fluid vessel to retract the firstdeformable region based on the command; and increasing the second volumeof fluid in the second fluid vessel to expand the second deformableregion based on the command.
 15. The method of claim 14, whereindisplacing the first volume of fluid into the first fluid vesselcomprises displacing the first volume of fluid into the first fluidvessel to outwardly expand the first deformable region from the surfaceto form a raised portion of the surface tactilely distinguishable fromthe third region of the surface.
 16. The method of claim 14, whereindecreasing the first volume of fluid in the first fluid vessel comprisesgradually decreasing the first volume of fluid in the first fluidvessel, and wherein increasing the second volume of fluid in the secondfluid vessel comprises gradually increasing the second volume of fluidin the second fluid vessel.
 17. The method of claim 16, whereininterpreting the force on the first deformable region as the commandcomprises interpreting the force as a degree of retraction of the firstdeformable region and a degree of expansion of the second deformableregion.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein decreasing the first volumeof fluid in the first fluid vessel comprises retracting the firstdeformable region to the degree of retraction and expanding the seconddeformable region according to the degree of expansion.
 19. The methodof claim 17, wherein interpreting the force as the degree of retractionand the degree of expansion comprises interpreting the force as apercentage of full expansion of the first deformable region in theexpanded state and as a percentage of full expansion of the seconddeformable region the expanded state.
 20. The method of claim 19,wherein interpreting the force as the percentage of full expansion ofthe first deformable region and as a percentage of full expansion of thesecond deformable region comprises interpreting the force as a firstpercentage for the first deformable region and a second percentage forthe second deformable region, wherein a sum of the first percentage andthe second percentages is
 100. 21. The method of claim 17, whereininterpreting the force as the degree of retraction and the degree ofexpansion comprises interpreting the degree of retraction and the degreeexpansion based on a length of time the force is detected on thesurface.
 22. The method of claim 17, wherein interpreting the force asthe degree of retraction and the degree of expansion comprisesinterpreting the degree of retraction and the degree expansion based ona magnitude of the force detected on the surface.
 23. The method ofclaim 14, wherein decreasing the first volume of fluid in the firstfluid vessel and increasing the second volume of fluid in the secondfluid vessel comprise decreasing the first volume of fluid in the firstfluid vessel and increasing the second volume of fluid in the secondfluid vessel substantially simultaneously.
 24. The method of claim 14,further comprising interpreting the force on the deformable region as acommand for the device.
 25. The method of claim 24, wherein interpretingthe command for the device comprises selecting one of two commandoptions, wherein the first deformable region represents the first optionand the second deformable region represents the second option.